I am currently attempting to query an SQL Anywhere 12 database. I was able to gain access and write queries using the software aqua data studio. Unfortunately, my Aqua Data Studio trial has run out. Any other software that I use (Sybase Central, ODBC, Altova DatabaseSpy, SQL anywhere Client) all give me the same error: an error occured during the sharedmemory connection attempt. I have no idea why this is happening, and I have even tried turning off the "use shared memory connection" on my DB but to no avail.

Which sounds like an issue with the sasrv.ini being absent. Does anyone know why? Why was aquadata studio able to connect but these others were not? (I had tried other software before aquadata and got the same error)

As Reimer has pointed out, your issue has nothing to do with the existence of sasrv.ini.

What is your exact connection string that you are using? The log contents above imply that you are not giving any password (PWD), database name (DBN), database file (DBF), nor a server name (ServerName). In order to connect to a server and database (on that server) you need to give at least some information in your connection string.

I am giving all of those things. However, I don't really feel comfortable putting them online. I can confirm that they are all correct and valid, because they are the same that I used when I was using Aqua Data Studio.

The strange thing is that the ODBC is also having the shared memory issue, so trying to connect via DSN just has the same problem (which I realize I am doing that in my connection string, but its important to note).

did you start the db with this line?
dbeng12.exe -x TCPIP -n LOCAL c:databasedbName.db
if you did, you should see the lightning bolt.
hover over the lightning bolt, and you should see LOCAL
if you don't see LOCAL, you're engine didn't start

The file sasrv.ini will only cache information to accelerate server lookup, but connections should be possible independent of it's existence.
You might want to try adding LINKS=TCPIP to your connection string.